Keller appointed to fill vacant school board seat

At the August Hot Springs County School District #1 Board of Trustees meeting held in the administrative building, Marshall Keller was sworn in as an appointed trustee, replacing resigning trustee Will Farrell. Keller will run for election in the November general election.  

During the celebration section, the board recognized the custodial crew and volunteers for their work in building the school teachage building. Photos of the project’s progress were shown from start to completion. Chairman Sherman Skelton noted in this project that “young people were going to be able to learn a trade and some, many different trades, not just a single or trade.” 

Chairman Skelton also noted to the custodial staff that “your normal jobs didn’t cease to exist either. You continue to carry those on. Not only that, you took on additional jobs as well.” During discussion, they said that they are close to finishing the handicapped accessibility portion of the football field stands. 

Vice Chair Nichole Weyer was on the building committee and was involved to watch the steps happen as they went. She said, “But the best part was at the end, I got to go take a tour a couple maybe a week ago and see a lot of you there. I am so impressed with the quality of the building that happened over there. They are absolutely stunning facilities and the quality of the work you all did is beyond what I could have imagined. And I thought I had a pretty good idea in my head of what that was going to look like. I did not. It was unreal.”

Weyer handed our special pins to each of the custodial staff and volunteers who were present in recognition for their contributions.

Business manager Jessica Benefiel gave a brief financial report and all four teacher units are occupied and they have an additional teacher on a waiting list. Benefiel also discussed some other matters which included replacing HVAC units in the middle school, pavement maintenance and technology subscription renewals. The board voted and passed the approval to accept the financial report.

In old business, the board discussed with new trustee Marshall Keller their board retreats where they discuss their goals and strategic plan and their purposes. They also discussed how those goals are narrowed down and then communicated to the rest of the district’s staff. 

Chairman Skelton reviewed the goals they focused on. They are: Goal 1: Create an accountability system to strengthen progress toward 100% PLC engagement across the district. Goal 2: Continue to develop strategies to recruit and retain high-quality staff. Goal 3: Promote the significance of education in Hot Springs County and the positive contributions being made to the lives of students and staff, as well as the benefits to our community. The board voted and passed the approval to accept the three goals.

The board also voted on the BOCES placements of two students. Trustee Keller abstained from the vote.

 During committee reports, due to the resignation of trustee Farrell, there was an opening on the Rec District committee. The board discussed how to fill that spot and to do it legally. After some discussion, trustee Jennifer Axtell volunteered to fill that spot. 

The remainder of the meeting, the board discussed their reading of a book about bullying. The book talks about the definitions of bullying, victims of bullies, potential reasons why bullying happens, warning signs to look for and about cycles of why people don’t report bullying, such as fears of bullying becoming worse. The book also discusses the bystanders’ role in bullying and how bullying can run through the family. The board also discussed how social media factors into bullying.

Regarding community participation and support, Chairman Skelton added, “We modeled the behavior we expect… We can all be better. If you’re an adult and you’re out there doing that, you’re a model on that behavior for children on what’s acceptable.”